Like Springtime in Winter
by Nyxieee-chaaan
Summary: Nanami Touko is a model student—smart, beautiful and a student council President. She is textbook perfect save one detail: she never felt in love.
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the manga, nor the characters. Yagate Kimi Ni Naru and all its characters belong to Nio Nakatani and serialized by Dengeki Daioh in April 2015. This is just an AU version of the story. Also, this is my first time writing a fan fiction so your reviews will be very much appreciated. I hope you enjoy!

It's a lazy afternoon. Mio Nee-chan is watching TV while I'm reading a book. My head lay comfortably on her lap. The story is so long-winded that I can't help but yawn. She smiled at me fondly, petting my hair. Mom called her in the kitchen to wrap up some snack when the doorbell rang. Ding dong... Ding dong… Ding dong…

Ring! Ring! Ring! My phone violently wakes me back to reality. Where am I? I check my phone. It reads September 3, 2018 6:45am. September 3… it's been seven years, huh? I slap myself to focus. I barely have time to prepare for school. I ran the cold shower and hurriedly went in…

Seven years ago, there's this little girl who looked up to her older sister. Her older sister was the textbook definition of perfect. She's athletic, she excels academically, had a lot of suitors and admirers. Mom and Dad were always so proud of her…they never looked at me. But it was okay, because then I feel no weight of expectations. Not that I realized this back then, I was too busy spending time with my perfect older sister. I'm glad that I did… when Mom and Dad fell into a depressive state; I made a decision to follow her footsteps. I have to become like Onee-chan. This is the least I could do to ease their pain...and mine.

I stepped out of the shower and hurried to school.

"Touko! Good morning!" Sayaka senpai called out from a distance.  
"Good morning, Sayaka. How are you today?" I replied with a smile.  
Sayaka is like Onee-chan, beautiful, smart and caring. She is the reason I manage to fool everyone else with this mask that I'm wearing.  
"I'm doing great, except I'm wondering what your answer will be. So what is it?" she stopped in front of me, her eyes pierced towards mine.  
"Please give me more time to think." I muttered and looked away.  
"Eh? Okay then. You have until Friday. I'll be waiting until then." she smiles and pats my back.  
"Thank you, let's go." I smiled back.  
"Yes, we better." she held my hand as we walked towards the classroom.

A month ago, Sayaka asked me to help out in the student council. It's a step closer for me to become like Mio Nee-san, she was the Student Council president after all. But I don't think I'm ready yet… something is missing. I don't have a purpose in joining the student council.

School's over. I was called in the student council by Sayaka. They needed help with activities for the upcoming School Festival. Everyone has been loaded with so many tasks and they're a little short-handed. She showed me the rundown of the program. There's an hour gap that needs to be filled in the schedule… I remembered something.

"Hey Sayaka," I was surprised at myself doing that, I don't want this yet. Not yet.  
"Yes, Touko?" she looked at me with a puzzled face.  
"How about we fill this gap here with a play?" I pointed at the program rundown. "What are you doing?!"I yelled at myself.  
Sayaka looked at me, her eyes lit with excitement. "That's a brilliant idea! We haven't done that in years!" She hugs me and pats my head. "This is why we need you here."  
"I guess I can help if you need me to." I muttered.  
She lets go of me and holds my hands up. "YES! That's exactly what I wanted to hear. But are you sure? You have until Friday, after all."  
"Mou. How can I say no when you're all excited?" I smiled, my cheeks flushed. "Wait, think this through!" my internal monologue interjected.  
"Well I didn't want to force you." she replied.  
"You're making me change my mind…" I playfully replied.  
"It's settled then. I'll request for Riko Sensei to make it official. Thanks for all your help, Touko. We have months before the school festival so we can come up with a plan and find more students to help out." She said, wrapping all the paperwork up energetically.  
"Anything for my best friend." I smiled, helping her out.

That's right. Sayaka has been there for me all the time. After Mio nee-san died, I changed myself in a way where no one would ever ignore me again. I began to work on my studies, pulling all-nighters to have good grades. I even started to wear make-up so I would look more presentable. All of these I did to please my parents…so they would not feel so sad. That's when Sayaka and I started this friendly rivalry. It made us closer, and I started opening up to people again. I wasn't this shy, invisible, little girl anymore. It was mostly because of Sayaka. Helping out in the student council is the least I could do to pay her back.

The next day, Sayaka formally introduced me to the rest of the student council members: Maki Seiji. This makes three people, Sayaka, Maki and yours truly. They really are short-handed. The next day, I was tasked to look for more students to help out in the student council.

I was about to go home when I saw a letter in my locker. This has been the fourth one this week. I opened it out of curiosity and read it:  
"Hello, Nanami-san. Please meet me outside the cafeteria after school. Thank you."

It had no name from the sender. How vague. I decided to hear him/her out like I did to all the other students who sent me letters. I went outside the cafeteria after school. On my way there, I saw this first year in the library. She looked so familiar…as if we've met somewhere before. She seemed too absorbed in her book. Maybe she could help out in the student council?

The pain in my feet snatched me out of my reverie. "Ouch!" I exclaimed, trying to look for the cause.  
"Sorry Touko, I can barely see where I'm going." It was Sayaka. I helped her pick up all the papers scattered on the floor.  
"It's okay, you're in perfect timing actually. What do you think?" I gave her the last bunch of papers that I picked up and motioned towards the library.  
"Think of what?" She wondered.  
"The first year with blonde hair reading a book, do you think she'll be of help to the student council?" I asked.  
"I don't see a problem with that; you can invite her over to help whenever she can." Sayaka answered.  
"Actually I have to meet someone right now, please talk to her for me?" I winked.  
"Sure. Take care now." Sayaka nodded assuredly. I saw Sayaka approach the first year as I walked briskly towards the meeting place.

I finally arrived in the said place only to have found a first year girl wearing glasses. She must have seen me coming since she timidly found the ground interesting.  
"Sorry I'm late—Uhm…" I bowed.  
"N-not at all, thank you for coming here. My name is Hinata Izumi, first year. I'm sorry for not introducing myself in the letter." she stammered.  
"Nice to meet you, Hinata-san. I'm Touko Nanami. It's a pleasure to meet you. May I know what brings me here?" I inquired.  
"The pleasure is mine. And the truth is I… It's because I have a confession to make." she said. I nodded for her to go on. "I know it's weird to like girls. But I like you, Nanami-senpai. P-please go out with me." she continued.  
"Thank you, Hinata-san. But I'm sorry. I cannot go out with you." I apologized.  
"I see. I knew it was weird…because we're both girls." she looked sad.  
"No, that's not the reason. I don't intend to go out with anyone whoever they might be. I hope you understand." I bowed.  
"I totally understand. Thank you for being honest. Have a good day then." She bowed as tears started falling from her eyes. As Hinata was running away, I heard a tree branch crack from behind me.

-END of CH.1-


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I decided to make this a crossover with Citrus although Mei and Yuzu won't be in this chapter yet.

* * *

I check to see the source of the noise to find a rather startled first year, the same girl I saw at the library.

"Hello senpai, my name is Yuu Koito. I don't mean to eavesdrop on your conversation, I just happened to be passing by and I didn't want to walk in while you two were talking. I'm so sorry." she bowed and apologized.

"Hi Yuu-chan. My name is Touko Nanami. It's alright but please keep what you saw a secret, okay?" I winked.

"Okay." she smiled "If you will excuse me then, I'm on my way home. It was a pleasure meeting you, Nanami-senpai." she waved her hand and was about to leave before I instinctively held her hand.

"Hold on, I would like to ask you something." I wait for her to turn around. "Would you like to help out in the student council? We could really use some help if you don't mind." I smiled and anticipated her response.

"Sure. I'd be glad to help senpai. Besides, another senpai asked me too earlier. When do I start?" she smiled back. "Well, I can show you around for starters. How does that sound?" I offered.

"Sounds good." she replied with enthusiasm. _Phew. That was easy._ I thought to myself. I began leading her the way to the student council room and the story of how the student council had acquired said room. I started making tea while she looked around, her eyes filled with curiosity. I placed the tea set on the table and sat beside her. She seemed a little nervous. "Are you okay?" I inquired. She began fiddling with her thumbs and after a few seconds took a deep breath.

"There's something I'd like to ask you senpai." she said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"As I mentioned awhile ago, another senpai asked me if I wanted to help out in the student council. It was Saeki-senpai. She told me that it was you who wanted to initially ask me but you had somewhere to go…" she paused to look at me for confirmation.

"You're right, it was me. I'm actually grateful that you agreed." I smiled encouragingly.

"Why me?" she inquired.

"I just thought you looked familiar…like I've seen you somewhere but couldn't pinpoint where or when. Plus, I would want to ask someone who takes their studies seriously and that made you a good person to ask. Am I wrong?" I asked.

"No, I see where you're coming from. I was just wondering." she smiled "But I don't remember seeing you before senpai, maybe I just look like that person." she continued.

"I guess." we both chuckled. "Since Sayaka isn't here today, we'll call it a day unless you have more questions." she smiled and shook her head so I stood up and began clearing our cups while she cleaned the tea pot. We began heading home and found that we live close to each other. I asked her if she wants to walk with me on the way to school and back from now on and she agreed to it saying "I appreciate you looking out for your kohai, senpai" with a polite bow to which I responded "Consider it as my way of saying thank you for agreeing to help out." returning the gesture. We exchanged numbers and said our goodbyes.

How long has it been? I haven't felt this warmth for a long time. I'm not a person who makes a lot of friends. As a kid, I was mostly average. I go to school and straight home after. I'd spend most of my days with my sister and that has always been enough. If I were to look back now, Sayaka might be the only friend I have since then. "I guess it's not too bad to consider making new friends" I said to myself…although I'm not so sure how. I laughed at the thought and headed home which is a block away.

The next day, I arose before my alarm did its function. "Good morning Yuu, I hope you slept well." I unconsciously texted Yuu as I was eating breakfast. I had only realized this when I got a reply from her saying "Good morning, Nanami senpai. Yes I did, thank you. I hope you've had a peaceful sleep as well." I felt blood rush to my cheeks as I tapped my cheeks back to reality and hurried to the shower. What am I getting so excited about? Indeed, there's no reason to feel so excited.

I texted her that I'm on my way as I closed our house gate to which she responded "please take care." As soon as I reached her house, I saw her mom waving her goodbye. She must've seen me as well since she started smiling and waving at me too. I bowed lightly and waved back. "Hello Nanami senpai, let's go" smiled Yuu.

"Mou, I wanted to introduce myself to your mom." I pouted.

"How about we do that later? We don't want to be late for school." She patted my back as we continued to walk towards school.

"That's a promise." I half-joked.

"It's a promise." Yuu assured. "By the way Nanami-senpai—"

"You're being too formal. Call me Touko." I interrupted.

"Okay then, To-u-ko se-n-pai. " She said in a deliberately slow and cheerful tone, emphasizing every syllable then smiled. It made me wonder if she was teasing in her own way.

"Yes, Yuu-chan?" I smiled and couldn't help but playfully pinch her cheek.

She rubbed it before responding "I was wondering how I could be helping out in the Student Council."

"We'll find out later." I winked and saw her wave at someone behind me.

"I see you two have finally met." Sayaka mentioned as she moved towards us.

"Yes, thank you for talking to her for me." I replied.

"No problem." Sayaka smiled, nudging my arm.

"We'll see you later then, Yuu-chan." I waved at Yuu as Sayaka and I walked towards our classroom.

"See you later, Touko-senpai!" She waved back.

I noticed Sayaka staring at me in amazement. "What is it?" I asked.

"First name basis on the first day you met?" She inquired.

"Technically, yesterday was the first day we met. I met her shortly after you spoke to her. Also, if we're going to work with her from now on, it's only natural for us to feel comfortable around each other." I explained.

"Interesting, though I'm pretty sure it took you a while before you started calling me Sayaka." she said, feigning a pout.

"Please don't be like that. You're my best friend." I poked her cheek twice as we entered the classroom.

"I know." She smiled as we sat on our seats.

Classes are finally over. I asked Sayaka about the activities she had lined up for us today. We have three months before the school festival and we've been receiving a volume of activity requests from all class sections and clubs. As we headed to the Student Council room, Maki-kun and Yuu-chan are playfully racing against each other in sorting each club activity by budget.

"They seem to be so efficient we don't need to tell them what to do." I stared in amazement while Sayaka proceeded in making her sudden announcement. I find myself sitting in the chair beside Yuu.

"Thanks Maki-kun and Yuu-chan for working hard. I see you've introduced yourselves and as acting Student Council president, I want to inform you that we're about to get busy in the coming months…but that doesn't mean we don't have time to strengthen our bond as a team. I'm saying we should go on a camping trip next week." She paused, looking at the three of us and gauging our reactions. "I know it's last-minute but what do you think?"

"Sounds great!" Maki-kun arose from his chair in enthusiasm. I glanced at Yuu to see that her eyes were lit with excitement too.

"I'm in" I said in agreement.


End file.
